Zodiac
by MotherDuckling
Summary: After doing some research on Celestial Spirits, Lucy is visited by a powerful being that offers her a once in a lifetime opportunity. One Shot.
1. Chapter 1

Hey! It's been a while since I've posted anything and I have been hooked on this anime/manga for about four-five months. I've watched all the dubbed episodes and read all the manga and some fan fiction. So what I wanna say is that honestly I was very surprised that Lucy was the main character. I found her weak and useless(please don't murder me Lucy fans). But I do like Lucy, she's a very entertaining and loving character and her back story is heartbreaking which draws people to her(not to mention have you seen them boobies?). I've seen many stories of Lucy running off and leaving the guild for years at a time to become stronger and comes back as a beast! Well, this is a little different. Most of this one shot has to do with the history of Celestial Spirits. I have no clue if someone has done this before, nor have I looked to see if someone has done this before so if you have made a story similar to this one I swear I didn't steal your idea. Yes this is a one shot and depending on if anyone wants a sequel I may write a sequel. Anyway I'll stop talking and let you read.  
>-Kayla<p>

Disclaimer- I do not own Fairy Tail nor do I own any of the character. I own OC's but that is all.

_Long ago in the ancient times of dragons and griffins, the celestial bodies were given a human form as a gift from the Celestial King. They were given the name Celestial Spirits. Because of the numerous amounts of spirits they built a city between two of the tallest mountains in all of Earthland, and named it Póli̱ To̱n Astéro̱n, that translates into City of the Stars. The reason for placement was said so the spirits could return to the skies whenever they pleased. But after the city was built many crimes and sins had been committed, so by the power of the Celestial king, he painted twelve of his sons and daughters the color of gold. The twelve were then known as the Zodiac. After the king had made there new birth known, the citizens built a towering temple made of pure gold and white marble for their new rulers. They ruled over the small empire and made laws for the other spirits to follow. And finally after years of murder and death in the middle of streets lined with the finest of silvers, there was peace. Sadly, the peace stayed but only three years. The Zodiac had came to an agreement that Leo, the lion spirit, should be leader of the twelve because he was strong, intelligent, and courageous. Though he was the leader, Leo would consul with his brothers and sisters over difficult matters and new laws that should be pondered on. Aquarius, the beautiful yet unforgiving and cruel Zodiac thought herself more as the queen of the city instead of a follower in her brother's foot steps. And because of the undying relationship between the so called queen, Scorpio, the scorpion Spirit, thought of himself as the king. The two had made outrageous and unnatural laws that infuriated the inhabitants of the grand city. The other Zodiac did all they could to level their egotistic heads but the intervention only made things worse. Aquarius began to fill threatened by Leo and ordered Aries, the lovely and timid ram spirit, to her execution. Aquarius knew very well how Leo had felt about the ram, and removing her from the Zodiac and back into a celestial body would be the lion spirit's downfall. After the death had been committed, riots had broken out. More death had begun and parts of the city had been burned to the ground. The remaining level headed Zodiac turned to the only person they knew who to turn to, Leo. But when they had come to extract a plan from him, they had found him face down in the duvets of his bed, a dagger carved from alabaster dug deep into his chest cavity. The announcement of the Zodiac Leader's death caused an uproar in the city. Many spirits then began to divid into groups that were known as guilds. A collective few were for Aquarius and Scorpio's ideas but the others looked to the heavens to worship Leo and Aries. A small group off to its self was given a name called thánato tou zo̱diakoú kýklou, also known as Death of the Zodiac. This guild had been filled with the most powerful and trained spirits that felt the only way to gain peace was for the Zodiac to be executed. There were only five members of this guild but had been told to be stronger than any of the other guilds combined. After word reached the Zodiac that a dark guild had been formed Capricorn, the goat spirit, took over as leader. He had threatened Aquarius that if she and her lover made anymore laws or tried to take over again, he would send them both to their deaths. Aquarius had no choice but to agree. The remaining Zodiac began to sort through laws and began to make the guilds illegal, anyone seen in or doing guild like activities would be killed on the spot. The citizens didn't like the new law and began holding secret meeting within their guilds but soon most had evaporated except for the single dark guild. One of the five members had masked her true identity and worked as a lock smith. She made twelve elusive golden keys, each with a different symbol engraved at the bow and each with a different beautifully carved bit. After the guilds had finally stopped thriving across the beautiful city, the Zodiac felt compelled to make the city a better and more livable place. They began making laws and after a year had passed, the city was finally calm. The dark guild hasnt been heard of for some time and the Zodiac were finally settling down. Until one night when a woman with pale gold hair that swept down to her waist in curls and white gold eyes that glimmered like stars came to Virgo, the virgin spirit, in a dream. The woman wore a long pale blue dress that almost hid her bare feet. The top was a gorgeous corset trimmed in gold. The strings that tied her waist tightly was made of the same gold, along with the decorative lace that blanketed the corset. A thin white transparent shawl rested on her shoulders. The skirt was so thin that it was almost sheer, but draped from her wide hips like the sky had turned into a waterfall. A split ran up the right side, all the way to her hip so the almost white skin of her thick leg could be seen, a golden garter shining brightly from the split. Two matching bracelets were placed on her upper arms and a choker made of the same fabric as the dress clung to her throat, a golden key with a strange engraved symbol in the bow dangled from a golden loop in the material. Her lips were painted a pale pink and the sides of her hair had been braided and pinned to the back of her head, a crown made of blossoming blue roses and baby's breath rested against her head. The woman said nothing but walk toward Virgo, her hand enclosing around the key and yanking it from the fabric. She held the key out to the Zodiac, the bit facing away from the woman. Before Virgo could respond to the woman's strange antics a puff of white smoke streamed from the key and encircled Virgo's body and everything went black. The next morning when Cancer, the crab spirit, had come to see why Virgo was still in her room, the only thing he had found was a golden key with delicate swirls decorating the bow and bit, an engraved symbol with many lines running across the bow. Before long, half of the remaining Zodiac had disappeared with a single golden key in there place, all having been visited by the same woman in each dream. The Zodiac had tried to hide the disturbing news from the towns people but some how they had found out the secret. The citizens had guessed someone had enchanted the keys that had been found to keep sealed or even kill the Zodiac they were targeting, so the name pnév̱ma foniás was given to the mysterious person, also known as Spirit Slayer. The towns folk began to become suspicious that the dark guild was rising from the crumbled guilds. After weeks of the dreams there were only two Zodiac left, Aquarius and Capricorn. Both were frightened and terribly sad that they had lost there brothers and sisters and in Aquarius' view, her lover. That night the golden lady visited both of them, but not in a dream, in person. She held two keys on a golden charm bracelet, her hair had been braided down her back. But this time she didn't come alone. Next to her, an equally beautiful woman with ebony hair had come with her. Her eyes were the color of gold and she wore a deep midnight blue dress that went to the floor. It was also a corset but the golden trimming was as black as her hair along with the string and lace. The split didn't look as clean as her company, it looked torn and jagged around the edges. Her hair was in a similar braid, a crown of midnight blue flowers that neither of the Zodiac had seen before nestled into her raven hair. The woman had an identical charm bracelet that held two keys, a golden garter around her somewhat tanned fleshy leg and a midnight blue choker around her throat. Her facial expression was a permanent scowl unlike the blonde, her facial feature were relaxed and the corners of her lips had been quirked up in a small smile. The Zodiac had begged for the two to give back their family in exchange for anything they wanted. The one with ebony hair demanded them to give the other keys they had found, to them. They complied without a second thought and went to fetch the ring of keys they had collected over the weeks. As they returned, both of the women held up a single key, both bits pointing toward the Zodiac. In a flash, blue and grey smoke left the keys and wrapped around their bodies and they disappeared into the golden objects in a blink of an eyes. The two women left the temple without another word. They had divided the keys evenly and had hooked each one onto their bracelets before they walked to the middle of the town. The women bowed to each other and turned back to back before climbing up the mountains. The ebony haired woman climbed up the left while the blonde climbed the right. Once they reached the peaks both stood under the celestial bodies of Leo and Aries. They wanted to make sure that the Zodiac couldn't come back, for good. In a swift motion, both pointed the correct keys toward the sky, pink and golden smoke filled the night air and wrapped around the stars, leading the bright diamonds into the keys. Without any words spoken, both women threw the bracelets into the air, the chain combusting but all twelve golden keys levitated in their spots. The women spread their arms wide, the keys following until they made a huge circle above the city. Leo's key drifted to the middle, Capricorn and Libra's keys carefully closing the space. Far off to the north, a man with short orange hair held the same pose as the women and to the south west and south east of the mountains a man with long brunette hair and another man with dirty blonde hair finished the wide spread star. The keys began to turn around Leo's, as the speed picked up a golden glow came from the circle. In a split second the circle was gone along with the keys that had been thrown in various directions across the lands of the world. Leo's key was left in the city as evidence that the Spirit Slayers had strikes for their last time. The five members that had been apart of the ritual was never seen again. Once the Celestial King gotten news of the predicament, he was outraged. A spirit had brought him the key of Leo a few days later only to spark the best of ideas from him. His spirits would live on for eternity, so they should be of use to someone. He built a realm made only for Spirits and made keys similar to the one of Leo's. With his power he sucked each spirit into the Spirit world and assigned them a key, scattering them across the land to be found decades later. As for his Zodiac, he had sent many spirits far and wide to search for them. It had taken him years to free them from their prison and in their memory, made the other keys silver. He named them ouránia kleidiá, or Celestial keys, also known today as Celestial Spirit Keys. And thus, the birth of Celestial magic was born. _

Lucy tapped her fingers on the bar as she read the book her best friend, Levy, had found in a magic shop a few days ago. It was supposed to have the full history of Celestial magic inside and so far the words had caught her interest. Loki had never told her of this, nor did he tell her about these so call Spirit Slayers.  
>"I call bullshit." The pink haired pyromaniac announced as he gazed over her shoulder at the beginning of the first page. "Dragons didn't live in the same era as griffins." The blonde turned to look at him and shushed him as she flipped through the pages until she stopped at a chapter titled what she was looking for. Spirit Slayers.<p>

_It is said that a Spirit Slayer has the abilities to make and sustain spirits from a collection of stars. They can also absorb any power and/or magic from the spirits they have a contract with. Not only can they do that, but they can also control the stars and use them to the Slayers advantage. Similar to a Dragon or God Slayer, they have specific attacks in how the stars can help them in defense. They can faze magical items from the Spirit world in the midst of a fight and can also faze themselves into the Spirit world while wearing an item from the realm. It is easily noted that the only possible people who can take on this tricky and lost magic are celestial mages._

The Celestial Spirit mage looked utterly shocked at how much power a Spirit Slayer could obtain. From the corner of her eye sight she could see Natsu leaning over her shoulder, his onyx eyes searching the page as well.

_It has been told in many stories that only two of the members from the dark guild had been Spirit Slayers._

"The two women?" Natsu asked, resting his chin on her shoulder. Lucy shrugged but had been thinking the same thing.

_Others say that all were, but after researchers had thoroughly examined the history of the Zodiac they believe the two women, Habola, the woman at the end of the story, and her older sister, Juniper, the woman that had visited in their dreams had been the only living Spirit Slayers._

"Plot twist." The blonde heard her partner whisper. She couldn't help but to laugh at that, surprised that the pink haired idiot had even known what a plot was. He glanced at her with his eyebrows knitted together. "What?" He asked, ignoring the talking coming from Gray a few tables over.  
>"Nothing, now let me read." Lucy shrugged her shoulder until Natsu removed his chin, planting his butt on the stool beside hers.<p>

_In other stories it is told that the two sisters had made the magic after Aquarius had deemed herself queen but they had yet to perfect the art. At the time the guilds had been made Habola's husband and his close relatives had made a Dark Guild to rid the Zodiac and imprison them forever. The sisters had thought this was the time that they should perfect the magic. At this time the magic they had held was minimal and they could only capture their souls that were made of stars and place them in the enchanted keys made by the hands of Juniper herself. Legend has it that Juniper had been in a relationship with the lion spirit Leo._

Lucy rolled her eyes at that, not really surprised. This Juniper character had sounded beautiful.

_And many of the mages that have held his key come into contact with her in some way. She has been said to ask mages with pure hearts to be blessed with the gifted magic of Spirit Slaying that many have turned down because of fear of the strength used in this magic_.

The blonde gawked at the page before looking down at her key ring in astonishment, how could he not tell her about something so amazing!

_Only two had agreed to the offering but when Juniper began the ritual in becoming a Spirit Slayer it had shredded their bodies into nothingness. Only two Spirit Slayers have been found in Earthland so far but..._

The sound of the guild doors being thrown open stopped her reading. Lucy glanced up toward the entrance, only to feel her jaw drop at the sight of a woman with pale golden tresses braided and resting on her right shoulder, white gold eyes as bright as stars. A pale blue dress that looked worn from age clung to her body, the corset blanketed in golden lace. A golden garter wrapped around her almost white fleshy leg and a single golden bracelet dangled from her left wrist, five small keys tinkling as they collided with each other. The sixth key hung from her neck on a thin gold chain, the blonde figuring it was the artificial key belonging to Loki.  
>"Lucy Heartfilia." She whispered with the most enchanting voice. The guild became deadly silent, watching the girl with bare feet glide over the floor toward the trembling blonde. She raised the hand with the bracelet and carefully brushed back the darker blonde hair, tucking it behind Lucy's ear. Said girl shivered at the ice cold skin that barely brushed across her cheek.<br>"Juniper?" The celestial spirit mage asked, her doe eyes wide and filled with many emotions. The beautiful woman's peach colored lips separated in a soft smile.  
>"Yes." She nodded, her wilted blue roses swaying at the small gesture. "Lucy, out of all of mages that have held Leo the lions spirit's key, you have the most pure and caring heart of them all." Juniper praised, softly cupping the girl's cheeks. Lucy shivered at her touch and felt a small bit of heat rise to her face once she realized all eyes in the guild were staring her way, more correctly, exactly at her.<br>"Thank you." Lucy replied awkwardly after a few moments of complete silence from the other half of the conversation. The woman's natural smile grew somewhat bigger as she moved her hands from the blonde's cheeks to her shoulders. "Juniper if you're here-" the celestial mage began, being cut off by the beautiful spirit.  
>"I know you are aware of the magic I am about to offer you. And you are also aware of what may happen during the change, but as I said before you have the most pure and caring heart! So after I ask you, please do think hard about this decision." Lucy looked into the star like eyes of the spirit, and after a few silent minutes of thought she nodded her head. The golden lady clasped her hands together in front of her chest and let out a small yelp with true excitement. Juniper took a short step back and smoothed her hands down her wrinkled dress, a serious look taking over her once carefree features.<br>"Lucy Heartfillia," she began, her clasped hands opened up as if she were cupping the air. In her palms lay an illuminated pale golden orb like object, but on closer inspection it was shaped like an eight pointed star. Lucy felt her heart beat quicken at the sight, the powerful magic that radiated from the beautiful object almost made her want to reach out and touch it. Her eyes had grown large as had everyone else's. "the mage with the purest of hearts, would you take my offering to become a Spirit Slayer?" The woman bowed her head, along with slowly kneeling down onto one knee, her cupped hands held high above her head and raised up to Lucy. The guild broke out in gasps as they stared at the woman and their nakama.  
>"Juniper, I don't know if I-" Lucy was yet again cut off, but this time by a rough textured hand that rested on her shoulder.<br>"Come on Luce." The pink haired mage grinned, his sharp teeth on display for her to see.  
>"Natsu this is life or death." Her voice raised just above a whisper. She watched as his smile faltered for a second, only to be replaced as soon as it had happened.<br>"This crazy lady said it herself, you've got the purest of hearts, that's gotta make a difference, right?" He looked at her through serious onyx orbs, his grin falling from his face. The blonde fiddled with a fringe on her shorts, her mind running a mile a minute. "Besides, who was the one who said she wanted to become stronger?" Natsu continued, a smaller smile splitting his lips.  
>"I did?" It sounded more like a question than a statement. The fire mage paid no notice.<br>"Who was the one who said she wanted to go on solo missions without having to worry if the job was to difficult?"  
>"I did." Her answer came out more confident than the last.<br>"Who was the one who told her handsome friend Salamander that she wanted, just once, to beat him in a fight?"  
>"I did!" She all but yelled before scrunching up her nose and shaking her head. "Wait, no I didn't." She looked over at her friend to see him smiling sheepishly.<br>"Either way, you are strong and becoming a Spirit Slayer will only make you stronger. I believe in you Luce, we all do." A bunch of 'yeahs!' And 'you got this Lu-Chan' came from her nakama. Lucy smiled, her body turning toward Juniper again. Without a second thought of doubt, the celestial mage stretched out her right hand, her fingertips brushing the glowing star. The golden lady rose to her bare feet with a beautiful smile across her lips.  
>"Do you, Lucy Heartfilia, accept?" She asked, her hands closing and making the star disappear. Her hands then found Lucy's, tugging her softly off of her seat to stand in front of her.<br>"Yes." Said girl whispered, her fingers being intertwined with Juniper's. A soft golden glow came from bellow them and when Lucy glanced down she noticed that they were standing in the middle of a pale gold magic circle. Magical energy began flowing thickly between the two blondes, making loose fabric and locks of hair flutter against their skin.  
>"Alright, close your eyes." As Juniper gave the directions she hid the star like eyes with her lids, the grip on Lucy's hands becoming tighter. The celestial mage nodded once, her doe eyes closing. The glow became brighter behind Lucy's lids along with how thick and crazed the flowing energy had become was practically suffocating her. "Apó ta ouránia só̱mata," she began, the words in a lost language. Even though the rest of the guild that watched in awe could not understand the woman, it felt like a first language to Lucy.<br>"By the celestial bodies," she whispered absentmindedly along with her.  
>"kai ta oinopnev̱mató̱di̱ se syndyasmó" Lucy felt her heart thrumming wildly in her chest, the sound almost blocking the voice in front of her.<br>"And spirits combined." She recited.  
>"ev̱logeí to éna me ta pio agná ti̱s kardiás," the energy that had been drifting between the two seemed to shift, changing its target to swirl only around the celestial mage.<br>"Bless the one with purest of hearts." She choked, her lungs beginning to burn from the lack of oxygen the magic energy was depriving her of.  
>"na ti̱s dó̱sei ti̱ chaméni̱ mageía pou échei í̱thele apó polloús" Juniper griped her hands tighter, her knuckles turning white.<br>"Give her the lost magic that has been wanted by many." Lucy felt light headed, her body beginning to sway with the rhythmic push and pull from the golden energy.  
>"kai exi̱méro̱se apó kanénan."<br>"And tamed by none."  
>"me to aíma enós foniá Pnév̱matos"<br>"With the blood of a Spirit Slayer."  
>"Sas díno̱ ti̱ sofía mou!"<br>"I give you my wisdom!" They yelled in unison, both pairs of eyes snapping open to stare into the other. All seemed calm as Lucy drew a breath into her lungs only to be choked by the strands of golden energy crawling into her mouth and down her throat. She couldn't breath and the silence inside the column of golden light was almost earth shattering. "Juniper!" She gasped, her knees buckling. The woman stood tall and with a quick out reached hand, steadied the blonde.  
>"You must breath in the magic Lucy, don't fight it." She kept their hands intertwined but caressed the back of her hands with her thumbs. The mage nodded her head almost limply. She began taking in a small breath only to begin coughing violently, golden dust forcefully spewing from between her lips. "Lucy, breath." The woman encouraged.<br>"I can't!" She wheezed, one of her knees hitting the ground. Juniper gave her hands a soft squeeze.  
>"You must." Lucy looked up at the woman, tears that she hadn't realized were building up streamed down her cheeks. She was going to die. Slowly and carefully Lucy took a small breath, the golden energy flowing down her throat leaving a scratchy and awful feeling but she didn't dare to cough it up. When she pushed her oxygen out she noticed that the energy hadn't come up with it. "Good, keep breathing." Juniper praised, helping her stand to her jello like legs. She ever so slowly filled her lungs a little more with each breath she took. After what felt like an eternity, Juniper and Lucy stood in the middle of a fading magic circle, the golden column of energy now inside of her body. The guild was still silent as a graveyard. Her body felt as if it would explode with how much magic energy she felt coursing through her veins.<br>"Is it over?" Lucy asked, feeling horribly parched and ready for a nap. Juniper smiled, letting go of their hands grasping her shoulders.  
>"You tell me." She turned the blonde toward a glass cabinet behind the bar and what she seen almost scared her. There Lucy stood in something she hadn't been wearing. A similar dress to the one Juniper was wearing was clad to her body. A white corset dress with long laced sleeves clung to her. The corset was lined with the most pale of golds. The same color lace ran up the sides of the corset and branched out to make beautiful swirls across her rib cage. Even though her reflection was cut off at the waist she didn't need to look to know that the skirt was floor length. But when she did look she was surprised to find not one but two splits running up both sides of the dress. They ended directly above her hip bones and gave a perfect view of the pale gold garters engraved with celestial symbols around her thighs. Around her right ankle was an anklet made from a thin golden chain, twelve small golden keys tickling her now bare foot. A pale brown leather belt dangled from around her wide hips, golden writing in the language Juniper had been speaking engraved deep in the material. A glimmering crystal key ring strapped around the belt and held the gold and silver keys Lucy had.<br>"This dress is beautiful." Lucy smiled, looking back up and catching a glimpse of her face. Her eyes widened in shock at her new discovery. Her eyes were still the chocolate brown but as the iris got closer to the pupil the brown turned into shimmering gold. Her skin was now the shade of Juniper's and her features looked sharper. Her hair was now paler and longer, the locks brushing to the midst of her back in a very loose braid. A crown of white jasmine and wax flowers clung to blonde locks that had been weaved in between the stems. "Oh my Mavis, I look beautiful!" She cried, touching her cheeks and nose softly to make sure that it really was her in the mirror.  
>"Toot toot." She heard from behind her, getting a lot of laughs from the guild mates. She turned gracefully to look at Juniper, her arms capturing the woman into a hug.<br>"Thank you." She whispered, getting a soft chuckle from the spirit.  
>"I think you should be thanking the pink haired one, he did after all give you the courage to do it." Lucy pulled back, a small blush on her pale cheeks but a smile on her now rose colored lips. She turned again but this time toward Natsu who had taken a few steps back from the commotion. He stiffened as he took in his best friend's new appearance, wondering how that could give her more power. He brushed it off when she jumped on him, her arms wrapped tightly around his neck and he realized how much stronger her grip had gotten.<br>"Thank you so much." She whispered into his ear, giving him a final squeeze and letting go. "Juniper you need to show me..." She trailed off when she noticed that the golden lady was gone. Her brows knitted together and the happy chattering became silence once again. A breeze floated through the open door and the enchanting voice whispered in her ear.  
>"tha xanasynanti̱thoúme kápoia méra, na frontísei Lucy Heartfilia." Said girl closed her eyes as the air swept over her cheeks.<br>"Take care Juniper." She whispered.  
>"Come one, lets go try out your new magic!" The fire mage yelped excitedly, grabbing her hand in his calloused one and running toward the door.<br>"Yeah, I'll try them out on Loki for not telling me about this!" She laughed, the sound like music to the guild's ears.


	2. Chapter 2

"Spirit Slayers song!" Lucy cried, sending a strong sonicboom toward Natsu. The pink haired pyro quickly jumped out of the way, striking with a Fire Dragons flaming fist. Before his fist could make contact, the blonde used her newest spell, Spirit's Soul, to form a shield out of stars. "Spirit Slayers diamond bullets." Lucy raised her hands, using her power to condense magic into the shape of multiple tiny stars. Building power up behind them, she forces the stars into motion like her very own Spirit Slayer machine gun. The stars shot through the shield and shatter it like glass, ruining her defense. "Shit," she whispered, trying to conjure enough power to remake the shield and to make it CORRECTLY this time. How stupid could she have been to miss the key element of the spell? To be able to release her power from behind the shield and allowing the attacks to flow through the nebula like wall. Natsu snickered at her failed attempt but used the distraction at his advantage. He charged her, hitting her with a Fire Dragons talon. The attack caused the Spirit Slayer to stumble back and fall onto her backside.

"Gotta be faster, Luce," Natsu tsked, making the blonde churn with anger. The pink haired mage could see the flaming stars in her golden eyes. He knew he had messed. Lucy reached for her key ring, pulling out a key and holding it towards the heavens.

"Open, gate of the lion, Leo!" Bright light blinded Natsu for a moment, Loki standing in its wake. "Star dress, Leo Form," the blonde's Spirit Slayer dress was shredded into golden light, replacing it with a flattering black dress with disconnected black sleeves and Leo's symbol etched onto the top of her right breast. Loki swept lucy into his arms.

"You look so ravishing in the outfit, I feel like I must protect you ten times as much when you're wearing this." Lucy glared at the player, squirming her way out of his grasp.

"What we've been practicing," She ordered, intertwining their fingers together and pointing their arms toward Natsu as if they were dancing.

"Regulus Canon!" They say in unison, Their hands glowing in golden light. Natsu gulps and goes to jump out of the way, only to be a split second too late.

"Fire!" A large golden beam is shot from their hands, the force sending them back a few steps. The searing hot star canon grazes Natsu's back, making him hunch down to protect the rest of his body. The clothing on his back is in shreds, red splotches litter his back and a bit of blood is smeared on his skin.

"Mercy!" He yells, making Lucy notice his figured curled up on the ground.

"Natsu!" The blonde bellowed, letting go of Loki and running towards her friend. Once she reached his battered body she leaned over him and pushed away his hair from his eyes. "I'm so sorry, are you okay?" She was concerned, she only meant to scare him a little not burn his back off.

"I'm fine Luce, can you take me back to the guild?" He croaked, pushing himself up into a sitting position.

"No, I'll take you back to my place, it'll be faster and I can apologize by fixing you up." Lucy argued, helping the pink haired pyro to his feet. Lucy Heartfilia had been training with her spirits, the Celestial King and Natsu since the day she had become a Spirit Slayer. It had been three months ago since the run in with Juniper happened, and every single day she trained at least two hours. The once small and frail Lucy Heartfilia was gone and was replaced by a strong star bending mage. Today, Natsu had asked the blonde if she would like to have a mock battle in the forest away from Magnolia. Lucy had, of course, agreed to the outing. However the fight had lasted much longer than either had anticipated, causing the mage's powers to slowly deplete before their very eyes. The regulus canon had almost wiped out Natsu physically and Lucey mentally. They were both exhausted and strained, and in Natsu's case, injured. After a very long slow paced walk, Lucy had managed to drag her friend's struggling figure into her apartment and face down onto her bed.

"Lucy, really. You should take me to the guild, you're to weak right now to take care of me." Natsu pleaded, selfishly wishing she wouldn't move him from the soft mattress.

"Shut up." The blonde demanded, her voice wavering. The pyro looked toward his friend, widening his onyx eyes when he noticed the crystal like tears running down her flushed and dirtied cheeks. "Just shut up, okay? I already feel so awful for hurting you, the least I could do is help you with your injuries." She begged, falling onto her knees in front of the man's face. She wrapped her arms carefully around his head and hugged him, soothingly running his fingers through the pink tendrils.

"Okay, but on one condition," Natsu began, taking a hold of one of her wrists and pulling it away from his head. Lucy looked up, gazing into Natsu's glimmering onyx eyes and nodded. The pyro felt his cheeks warm a bit at the blonde's cute expression with her sad eyes and pouted lips. "Stop crying." he commanded, wiping away tears from her face. Lucy nodded again, straightened herself and got to work.

After Lucy patched up Natsu, she felt as if she could collapse at any given time. Her legs were jello and her head was pounding. But she had promised Natsu she would make him a meal before resting. "Lucy?" she heard come from her bed, the blonde turned, the white skirt of her Spirit Slayer dress swished around her legs. Before she could open her mouth she became dizzy. Grasping at the air for anything to grab and catch her fall, Lucy hit the ground and let out a loud groan. "Luce!" Natsu panicked, wobbling over to the woman. He leaned down beside her and quickly helped her up. "Lets get you to," Natsu started, getting interrupted by Lucy.

"I'm fine. Just let me make this food."

"You're not fine. Nobody that's fine uses another person to stand up. Just," Natsu paused, wrapping one arm around the blonde's waist. He leaned toward the stove and shut off the flame. "Let's rest." He gathered Lucy in his arms and tucked her into bed, crawling in after her. Natsu pulled her close into a hug and rested his chin on the top of her head.

"Natsu," Lucy hummed, nuzzling her face against his warm chest.

"Just rest." And so they did, dozing away the day in each others arms.


End file.
